Learning How To Smile
by telephone czar
Summary: Lindsay's goal is to be the perfect student, the perfect person. When her life gets more intense will her friends stand by her or walk away? Set in Season 3. Added Chapter 2.
1. Mr Brightside

Disclaimer: I dont own Degrassi.

I lay in bed that morning, waiting for my alarm to go off. The first day of tenth grade was about to start. I turned my head to look out the window, through the trees she saw the blue sky shone and that the green leaves were as vibrant as ever. Soon the clock struck seven and music blared from the radio. I smiled and hit the alarm, almost jumping out of bed. I got ready and put on a dark green polo shirt and jeans. I looked in the mirror, my long auburn hair was tied into a half pony tail. My emerald eyes matched the dark green of my shirt and my teeth were brushed. I grinned at the reflection, grabbed my bag and headed downstairs. The kitchen was eerily quiet, my father was a pilot so he was at work and my mother had probably just left, taking the twins to day school. Only Ryan sat at the counter, munching on a pop tart and reading the sports page. I walked to the other side of the counter and poured myself a glass of orange juice.

"Hockey is on strike you know." I said to him smirking, he looked up and glared at me.

"Don't you have something to do?" He asked glaring at me then looking back down at the paper. Ryan was a grade ahead of me. He was on the hockey team and somewhat of a sports nut.

"Actually, I don't," I said sliding into the stool next to him. "Craig and Ash are going to come here then we are going to walk to school. So I thought I would spend some quality time with my brother." I said.

"Oh isn't this a dear diary moment, sibling bonding." He said, not looking up.

"It definitely is," I said grabbing a piece of toast our mother left out. I ate it as I pulled out a book and we sat in silence. Then the back door opened and Ash and Craig walked in hand in hand. They were both grinning, I smiled back. My best fried Ashley had been through some hard times and I'm glad she found someone who understood her. Craig was so nice to her, he wasn't a bad catch either, very handsome. He had the whole rocker thing going on. Brown hair with deep brown eyes and a leather jacket on. He was very good at photography and even had a band with his friends.

"Oh look its Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck, Excuse me if you will." My brother said as he slid off his stool and headed out the door.

"Good to see you too, Ryan," Ashley called after him. She turned to me, "He got back from hockey camp, I gather?" She said.

"Unfortunately, he has been like this all week. My guess is he's on steroids." I said standing up. "Hi Craig," I added warmly. We headed out the door and I looked once more at Ash grinning at something he said, I smiled again. Last year Ash had gone a little Goth. She didn't know who she was, after that incident with drugs in 8th grade all our old friends ditched her. It was really very shallow of them, if they were really her friends they would understand that that wasn't Ash, it was the drug. Ashley and I had been friends since before I could remember, and I wasn't going to ditch her for something like that. Apparently Paige was, but I didn't think that highly of her. We all made small talk as we approached the steps of Degrassi Community School. I stood looking at it.

"Lindsay stalks her prey." Craig said. I looked back at him and laughed. I was a straight A student, always have been. I always thought that grades were something you could control, and stability and control was good. Being the perfect student was something you could decide and maintain. That drive got my mind off other things. We went to the office and got our schedules and went to the steps and examined them.

"I have two classes with Craig," I announced.

"You're taking Shop?!" Ashley exclaimed. I nodded, I took Shop because it was a class no one expected me to pass. I was too girly, too scholastic to ever be able to fix a carborator and I wanted to prove those skeptics wrong. I explained all this to Ashley and she nodded knowingly.

"Ah yes, feminism all the way!" She said. "And we have three classes together so all is well." She added.

"All is well indeed." I agreed.

"Hey Craig," A voice said, all three of us turned and looked around. There was Manny Santos, at least I think it was. She was dressed in a very provocative tube top and low cut matching sweat pants. She looked at Craig, apparently trying to look seductive. I turned to Ashley and she looked as stunned as I.

"Uh, hey Manny." Craig said "You look…different." He added. I fought the impulse to laugh.

"Thanks." She said walking off. A disgruntled Emma followed.

"Holy Jesus," Ashley said laughing. "She certainly turned on the Britney Spears."

"Britney Spears Federline," I corrected.

"Manny Santos, that was weird." Craig stated. He shook his head and changed the subject.

"Oh look, its Lindsay Brandon. Every teacher's wet dream." A voice said, a very distinctive voice. I balled my hand into a fist and took a deep breath.

"Ignore him," Ash whispered. I turned around to see Jay and his band of junkies. Jason Hogart, better known as Jay. The resident criminal at Degrassi, he smirked at me. He wore black pants, a black shirt and a black jacket. A silver necklace hung around his neck, no doubt stolen.

"Don't you have a church to desecrate or something?" I asked him. Anger flashed in his eyes.

"Brandon, maybe you should go hurry along and study, maybe it will give you an orgasm." He said, his gang laughed as they strode away. I narrowed my eyes.

"That gang of delinquents should be expelled." I said turning to Craig and Ash.

Ash shook her head. "Jay Hogart, the only person Lindz hates," Ashley explained to Craig. Craig nodded knowingly.

"He started it," I grumbled.

"Back in first grade Jay pulled a wad of her hair out on the playground. Lindsay hasn't quite forgiven him." Ash said to Craig, who laughed.

"It's not funny!" I protested "That hurt, and he laughed afterwards. Anyway, he is a disgrace to this school and just plain rude." I said as the bell rung.

My day went by quickly. The same old, beginning of school lecture on making good first impressions and such. My last class was shop and I had to say I was a little worried about it, no doubt I would get teased horrendously but I had to prove this. Not only to all of them, but to myself. As I entered the garage-like classroom that shop was held in I spotted Jay right away. I groaned as I leaned against the wall.

"I believe you have the wrong classroom," The teacher said coming up to me. He was an old man, and his eyes wee skeptical.

"No, I have the right class." I said handing him my schedule. I looked around to see the only other girl was Amy which wasn't much of a comfort.

"Well I think you should go get a different class because this one obviously doesn't fit you." The teacher said. I stared him down.

"I don't believe you know what would fit me and what wouldn't." I said.

"Well just know sugar, that this will be a dose of real life for you. Oh and you wont want to wear that in here." The teacher sneered. I glared at him, real life, I walked towards the back, I usually liked to sit in the front or the middle but I didn't want to be noticed in this class.

"Study girl in shop! Blasphemy." Jay called, I groaned, I was in no mood to deal with Jay. I stayed silent and the bell rung. Class began, the teacher dragged on about expectations then gave a brief intro to cars. About 15 feet to my right Jay stood, he was staring down a boy considerably shorter than him but looked just as tough. Sean Cameron, the boy who came in 7th grade, he deafened a boy in the ear at his old school. He was my age but was held back. I knew he was dating Emma Nelson which was a shocker because they were very different. Their voices got louder and Sean though a punch, soon a full fledged fight had broken out. I stared at them, then the teacher came up beside me.

"This is life for you, girlie." The teacher said then stomped over to the two and held them by the collar, whispering something to them and then pushed them out the door. He brushed his shirt off and then class returned to normal. Once the bell rung I caught up with Ash.

"So wait a fight broke out during Shop?" She said as we walked out the front doors.

"Yeah between Jay and that guy, Emma Nelson's boyfriend Sean Cameron."

"Yeah I know him; I wonder what it was all about." Ashley said. Outside there was a huge rally going on, probably one of Emma's environmental clean up deals. As we walked by the rally out of the corner of my eye I saw Jay next to his red Honda civic and Sean fixing it, they actually looked some-what like friends. I pointed this out to Ashley.

"Lovers quarrel maybe?" Ashley suggested. I laughed.

"Probably," I said, Craig then caught up along side Ashley and kissed the side of her head. She grinned and we headed to The Dot.

"Hey Ash," Ellie said, catching up to us. Ellie was another one of our friends, she was really nice. She was kind of Gothic and had red hair like mine except a little more red than orange.

"Hey El," She said happily. We grabbed a table at The Dot, a new little café close to school. Spinner worked here so everyone got pretty good prices. They also had really good coffee.

"Hey Lindsay, Craig." Spinner said as we sat down. Spinner had never quite admired Ashley, to him Ashley ruined his best friend's life in 8th grade and now she had taken Craig too.

"Hey Spin," Craig said, I nodded.

"What will you guys have," Spinner said taking out a little pad and a pen from behind his ear.

"White Chocolate Mocha," I said smiling.

"My personal favorite," He commented scrawling the order down.

"Mocha Frap," Ashley said, "Make that two." Ellie added.

"I'll just have tea." Craig said. Spinner shook his head grinning.

"That's a sissy drink, Manning." He said walking off.

"He's right." I said.

"Oh shut up," Craig said laughing.

After a while I started the trek home. I didn't live far from school, only a few blocks. We lived in a cozy brick house on Bordeaux Square. Just off Degrassi Lane. It was two stories with a huge oak out front. I walked in. The twins were in the den watching television.

"Lindsay!" Rachel yelled standing up on the couch. She had red hair and twice as many freckles as I did. They were seven and were the most hyper kids I have ever rested eyes on.

"Hey brat face," Sam said not facing away from the television.

"That wasn't nice, Sammy." Rachel said turning to him. Soon they got into an argument and I tiptoed out of the den and up the stairs into my room. It was bright, lots of windows that faced the big oak. The double bed was under two windows and across from a cabinet that held a television and movies. To the right of the bed was my desk with a computer and pens, pencils and papers. All very organized, then there was a bookcase. Filled with novels such as _Harry Potter _and _The Da Vinci Code_. In alphabetical order. I didn't have any homework so I checked my e-mail then watched a movie.

"Not doing homework?" Ryan said from the doorway. I looked up at him.

"Yes?" I inquired.

"Mom and Dad are calling a 'family meeting'." He said. I groaned and got up. Mom and Dad were sort of hippies. They were sort of stuck in the 60s. They tried to raise us vegetarian with no TV but Ryan quickly changed the vegetarian fact (he flung brussel sprouts at my mothers face when she tried to feed it to him as a baby) and the twins changed the TV rule. (It was the only thing that would calm them down.) Even before we got a TV, Ryan and I would sneak out to watch TV rouge at a friend's house. They even worked for a non-profit agency that was called Save Africa. Basically it helped create wildlife reserves and help Africa. So these family meetings were all a big hippie conquest. I walked downstairs to find mom and dad sitting on the couch, the twins were next to him.

"Lindsay, how was school?" My mother asked as I sat in the arm chair.

"It was good, thanks." I said raising an eyebrow.

"Ah," My father said pushing his glasses up on his nose. "You want to know why we called this meeting." He said. We all nodded slowly.

"The agency asked your father and I to make a trip to Kenya to open up a new preserve." My mother said proudly, her brown eyes shining.

"How long?" Ryan asked the question that was in everyone's mind.

"Well…9 months," My mom started slowly. My eyes widened, nine months?

"What about the twins, what about Ryan and I." I asked exasperated.

"Well your aunt has agreed to take on the twins." My father said.

"My prayers go out to them," Ryan muttered.

"Hey!" Rachel said to him.

"What about Ryan and I?" I asked.

"Well you two, we feel, are old and enough." My father started.

"And very responsible," My mother chimed in.

"Yes, you being 15 and Ryan being almost 17 I think you two can hold down the fort." Dad continued. I looked at each of them, they were smiling. Then I looked at Ryan, who although he wasn't smiling he sure looked like he was about to when they left.

"Dad, I definitely believe that I can take care of Lindsay and the house." He said in a dignified voice.

"That's good, honey." My mother said getting up to hug him. Over her shoulder I saw the twinkle in his eye. Mom and Dad are left the next morning. It was a little unnerving that they didn't tell us earlier; when I pointed this out they said that they had just found out themselves. I bit my lip, this would be a different year, for sure.


	2. Automatic Girl

**Disclaimer: I dont own Degrassi.**

**A/N: Thanks for the reviews. I know you asked some questions and here they will be destroyed by awnsers.**

**The twins are 7, I'd say somewhere around that age.**

**I know she says Ellie is goth when she isn't its just because this character would catagoritize everyone who dressed or acted that way as goth.**

That night I called Ash to tell her the news.  
"They're leaving for nine months." She said skeptically.  
"Yeah, Ryan is in charge and the twins at Aunt Sarah's."  
"Any guidelines?" She asked again.  
"They send Grandpa Joe to check on us every morning at eight starting day after tomorrow." I explained.  
"Wow, this is great! We need to find something to do." That I was unsure of. After I hung up I lay in bed and thought about it. For months we would be without parental guidance, it would be a wild year. Ryan would probably have parties every weekend. Even though Grandpa Joe would apparently come every morning we knew he wouldn't. Joe would come one morning then complain about a. Americans b. Communists and c. Hippies and then leave. He wasn't too fond of my dad after he eloped with my mom and as he put "turned a good girl into a crack-snortin' no good hippie." Basically, he will probably come once or twice and not come again. Its not that he doesn't like us, Ryan is like the son he never had, its just he would rather be smoking a cigar and watching movies about World War II.  
And that's exactly what happened, Grandpa came once. Complained about all three of the things he despises and then left mumbling about hippies (i.e. my dad.) The next few weeks went on pretty normal. Ryan was trying to figure out what he wanted to do with the lack there of parental supervision. He definitely enforced his power as an elder. For example: This morning I had to get out of the house at six to insure that Ryan wouldn't catch me and make me make him breakfast, take out the garbage and clean the kitchen or he would call mom and tell him a disparaging story that required me to go live with the twins. I just scrawled him a note that read so:  
Ryan, I had to get to school early for tutoring. –Lindsay  
While he may be angry he cant seriously get mad at me for scholastic growth and improvement. When I showed up at The Dot that morning, a disgruntled Craig sat in a booth. He looked very wore out, I knew he and Ashley were going through a rough spot. So I slid in the booth parallel to him.  
"Hey," I said. He looked up and smiled a bit, he seemed to have a lot on his mind.  
"What are you doing here so early?" I asked.  
"Oh, I just needed to get out of the house, how about you?" he asked  
"Had to get away from Josef Stalin who apparently resides in my home now," I admitted. He laughed looking up. A waitress walked up and I ordered a coffee.  
"What's wrong?" I asked after the waitress left.  
"Oh it's just…things are hard. With Marco coming out and Ashley and I having this little rift…It's like everything is happening at the same time." He explained, taking a sip of his own mug of coffee.  
I nodded. What could I say; I wasn't very good at this. Some optimistic cliché? The light at the end of the tunnel? I didn't really know how he felt, I really felt bad for him.  
"With Ashley, just give her some room and she will forgive you," I said stifling a yawn. If I knew anything about Ashley it was that if a guy gave her space she would come around.  
"Yeah, I'll try…are you okay?" He asked.  
"I'm just a little tired," I said slowly. I was on the phone with Ashley analyzing Craig's every move then I wrote my paper for humanities. I was up until about three and then I woke up at six. I explained this all to Craig with the exception of the content's of Ash and I's conversation. He looked at me with a look of sympathy.  
"Jesus Lindsay, all of this with your events coordinator duties. You get some rest I'll wake you up when we have to hit school." He said. Oh I forgot, I also am the Event Coordinator, which means I coordinate almost all the events that hit Degrassi with the Events Coordinator's committee. Paige and I had to run against each other for this new position. I was amazed I won, these things are popularity contests and she is definitely the more social one.  
"Are you sure?" I asked him apprehensively.  
"Go ahead." He said. I smiled then put my head against the wall and soon I was asleep. What seemed like five minutes later Craig was scurrying around.  
"Damn, Lindsay wake up." He started. My eyes blinked open, "We overslept, school started five minutes ago." My eyes widened and I scurried around to get all my things  
"Craig!" I hissed "You were supposed to wake me up!" I said exasperated.  
"I'm sorry, watching someone sleep, its hard not to fall asleep yourself." He said as we hurried out the door. I just glared at him, I hope he knew I was relaying this all to Ash. As we hurried through the door I prayed that Mr. Radich wouldn't find us.  
"Well, well, well Ms. Brandon, Mr. Manning." A voice boomed from the corner. I clenched my eyes shut and turned around slowly. Mr. Radich stood in the corner with a stern look on his face. "Craig, get to class. Lindsay, come with me." He said. Craig walked away looking back with a apologetic look on his face. I followed Mr. Radich to his office. He sat down behind his desk and motioned me to sit in the two seats for visitors.  
"Ms. Brandon," He said  
"Yes sir?" I asked biting my lip.  
"You are ten minutes late for class, a very odd thing indeed." He started. I nodded as the guilt crept into my stomach. "And some of your teachers have come up to me commenting on your progressive fights with Mr. Hogart." He added. I took a deep breath, Jay and I have gotten into more fights that have progressively gotten worse. For example one time during English when he made one of his snide, pointless comments I snapped at him and Ms. Kwan had to break up the verbal clash.  
"Yes Sir, I am going to stop that," I said looking Radich in the eye. "As much as Jason disrupts class and the scholastic environment of Degrassi, I have now learned by snapping back it fuels his ego to do it more often and we certainly do not want that." I said. Mr. Radich nodded content with the explanation.  
"I understand, Lindsay but I still will have to give you a Saturday Detention." He said after a few minutes of silence. Protest welled inside of me, I was late once in my duration here at Degrassi and he is giving me Saturday Detention.  
"Mr. Radich, is that really a fair punishment?" I asked.  
"Ms. Brandon, do not question my judgment, not only are you late to class but these fights have disturbed class and I want this to hammer down that I do not condone this, head to class." He dismissed. I pursed my lips and got up, grabbing my bag.  
"Yes Sir," I said through a clenched jaw. I headed out and towards my first period, I shook my head once I got out of his office. Saturday Detention does not get you into Oxford. This could not stand to be on my record. I put my head against a locker, gathering my strength for first period. I took a deep breath and headed to English. When I got in Ms. Kwan looked shocked to see me.  
"You're late Lindsay." She stammered.  
"I realize that Ms. Kwan, I already ran into Mr. Radich." I said at my last nerve. I walked through the isles to my seat in the back with Ashley. When I got there I collapsed at my desk and got out my things slowly.  
About thirty minutes after mind numbing talk of The Odyssey, Ms. Kwan was called out for some reason or another. The moment she got out the door, I explained the entire story to Ash.  
"Are you serious, Saturday Detention for being ten minutes late? That is the most retarded thing I have ever heard." She exclaimed.  
"I know, it's just because he is a cold, cold man who just wants to see me fail." I said clutching my pen. Ashley saw this and began to grin, I stared at her.  
"What?" I asked.  
"It's just I don't think I have ever seen you this worked up before." She said, grinning.  
"I don't think its funny," I stated "And that boyfriend of yours, making me late. I assure you he will pay." I added.  
"So, let me get this straight," She said, turning serious. "You were with Craig at The Dot, you both fell asleep and then you were late."  
"Yeah, he promised to wake me up but no he can't watch people sleep with out passing out." I grumbled.  
"This is too funny," Spinner said turning around. I glared at him; he was listening to our conversation.  
"I don't get why everyone thinks this is just a laugh riot." I said throwing my hands up.  
"It's just amazing, Lindsay Brandon has detention." He stated shaking his head, grinning.  
"For nine hours." I grumbled.  
"Seven to Four?" Ashley said stunned.  
"Yes, seven to four because of a lousy ten minutes." I said burying my head in my hand.  
"Aw don't worry Lindz; I'm sure you will have good company. You know, Jay, Sean, Towerz, hell Alex may even grace you with her presence." He said.  
"Don't remind me," I said as Ms. Kwan reentered the room.  
"Sophomore's," She called, "Calm down." Easy for her to say.  
At lunch Ash, Craig and I sat in the unusually empty cafeteria, most everyone was out enjoying the beautiful day for their lunch hour.  
"Oh by the way how is that dance going?" Craig said, chewing on a fruit rollup.  
"I refuse to talk to you," I said adamantly. I had tied my hair back and had my glasses on; I was huddled over my Trig textbook.  
"How is the dance going?" Ash repeated, apparently they had made-up. I looked up taking off my glasses.  
"It's good, Paige is trying to take over my position." I grumbled. Paige wasn't exactly the gallant loser. So every time she gets she tries to take over my duties, but the committee was very productive. It consisted of Manny, Hazel, Emma, Marco and JT. All of them had really great ideas, this dance would go off without a hitch.  
"That sucks," Ashley admitted.  
"Its okay, Paige has her other chair, it will keep her busy." I said as I put my glasses back on returning to my book.  
"Ah yes Presidency calls." Ash said in a dignified voice.  
"As does to much make-up and to little clothing." I added.  
"Speaking of too little clothing, have you seen Manny Santos around?" Ash said.  
"She's on the committee." I stated simply.  
"Is it bad?" Ash asked, biting her lip.  
"Well I keep having to usher her suitors out of a one-hundred foot radius of her." I said as Ash laughed.  
"I heard Emma isn't friends with her anymore." Craig started. I wrinkled my nose; I wasn't the biggest fan of gossip. All it did was start fights or situations that usually ended up badly.  
"Have you ever noticed that in shampoo commercials," I started, turning the conversation away from Manny "That the person picks up the shampoo like they have never seen it in their life even though it's sitting in their bathroom."  
"That was random," Ashley said laughing.  
"It's probably magic." Craig said nodding. I just looked at him.  
"I'm sorry by the way," He said grinning.  
"Fine," I said resigned.


End file.
